Paneled building wall construction



May 21, 1957 J To 2,792,595

PANELED BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed April 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet ly 1957 J. LINTOTT 2,792,595

PANELED BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed April 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 22,792,595 PANELED BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION John Lintott, Watford,England, assignor to Maycrete Limited, London, England, a company ofGreat Britain Application April 20, 1953, Serial No. 349,629

application Great Britain April 22, 1952 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) Claimspriority,

This invention relates to a building construction. More particularly itis concerned with that type of building which is built up of so-calledprefabricated units.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an improveddesign of wall panel for use in the construction of exterior or partywalls of a prefabricated building.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method oferection of prefabricated buildings or units having a cavity wall, whichare capable of being erected by the use of relatively unskilled labour,the only requirement being a concrete base or other foundation to whichthe building is anchored.

According to the present invention a panel for use in the erection ofwalls of prefabricated buildings comprises a frame work of timbering, towhich is secured facing sheets of suitable material, e. g. asbestos orfibre board, the composite panel so formed having a reinforcement alongtwo opposite edges of metal strip, which metal strips are respectivelyprovided with interlocking components to enable adjacent panels, whenerected, to be connected one to the other.

In a preferred construction the metal reinforcing strip consists ofangle section arranged with the flange extending inwardly of the paneland so that the web provides the abutting face between adjacent panelsalong their vertical sides. One of the reinforcing angle strips may beprovided witha lock flange along its outer edge adapted to engage a slotcut in the timbering of the frame of the adjacent panel.

Satisfactory results have been obtained by the use of L-section strip,the web of which is slightly less in width a h total c s -s t n o e f mof h panel and which is so arranged that the flange, when the panel iserected to form part of a wall, lies on the inside. The interlockingcomponents are conveniently male and female, e. g. studs and slotsarranged at spaced intervals from end to end of the strip. Theconnecting studs may consist of metal tongues projec ing in a plane atright angles to the web of the metal angle for engagement with V-shapedslots cut in the web of the opposite angle of the adjacent panel so thatwhen the panels are assembled, the stud, by reason of the tapering sidesof the V-shaped slot, automatically centres the panel.

Ac i g to a f t e fe u e of the invent n t e a l of a. p fabri at duilding s ui t up of upp r a d l we metal channels which extendhorizontally and are arranged to face ds one anothe the lo er channelbeing anchored, such as by means of rag bolts set into a concrete base,and between which channels are located cavity panels provided alongtheir vertical edges with metal strip having interlocking means. Thepanels may be located in the base channel or channels by extending thetimber styles of the wall panels at their lower ends so as to projectbeyond the lower edge of the panel and into the bottom of the basechannel. At their upper ends the panels fit inside the flanges of thechannel.

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When the panels are in position they may be secured to the base channelby means of screw pins or the like inserted through holes formed in theinterior flange of the channel, which pins penetrate the timbering alongthe bottom edge of the panel.

A metal weather strip may be secured along the lower edges of the wallpanels, this strip preferably being formed with an offset flange so thatit overlies the joint line between the channel and the panel. Theweather strip may be secured between the outer sheet of the panel andthe timber framing.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichFigure 1 is a view in elevation of a panel unit in accordance with theinvention. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing metal strip used toform the reinforcement along two opposite edges of a panel in accordancewith the invention, and the interlocking components thereof. Figure 3 isa part horizontal section showing two adjacent panels when interlockedand illustrating the panel construction along two vertical oppositeedges. Figure 4 is a similar section illustrating the method of forminga corner joint between two walls built up of panels in accordance withthis invention. Figure 5 is a vertical section showing a single paneland the upper reinforcing metal strip and the further reinforcementsecured by the base channel of erection of a wall.

Referring to the drawings, the prefabricated wall panel essentiallycomprises a frame work of timber indicated generally at A (Figure 5),facing sheets B and a reinforcement along two opposite edges provided bymetal strips.

In the embodiment shown which illustrates the construction of arectangular panel, this is built up of upper and lower wood fillets 1and 2, joined to one another by vertical fillets or styles 3 and 4.

Each panel along its vertical des is provided with metal reinforcements,the metal strip being of such construction that it extends over at leastone face and a side edge of the panel in order to give rigidity and toprovide an anchorage for interlocking components, by which adjacentpanels are attached one to the other. These require ments areconveniently obtained by use of l.-sec-tion strip so as to provide acontinuous metal facing over the said face and edge, i. e. the abuttingside edges of the panels and their outer faces. Channel strip may beused as an alternative.

In addition to the vertical sides, 1 preferably also provide metalreinforcement along the horizontal sides. In this case the metalreinforcement along the upper edge consists of channel section strip andis united thereto to form an integral part of the panel structure.bottom horizontal edge, the metal reinforcement is obtained by aseparate channel section which is laid .down as part of the foundationbut is secured to and forms a P f he p nel o p nis when er ed n v s tiemembe s a e Pr vi d at 1.

As can be seen from Figures 2 and 3, the L-strip is so arranged that thewide limb 11 is arranged at the sides with the narrow limb or flange 12on the outer face. it will be observed also that the limb ll does notextend over the entire width of the panel measured from front to rearand is less than the width of the wood fillets 3 and 4.

The metal strip along one of the vertical edges of each panel is formedwith an additional vertical flange 1 1 hich s entered into a l cut a theppc te d e of t 9 5i f t of an acen Panel- Adjacent pairs of panels areconnected one to the other by interlocking components which arerespectively a a d al s sh n i i u 2 a me a teasu P c 1 is pro ided n thiml 19i he str p hermetic locking flange 11' for engagement with a slot17 in the Al n he a metal reinforcement strip 13 of the opposite sideedge of the adjoining panel. a

The size of the slot 17 measured from top to bottom is slightly greaterthan the vertical edge 18 of the tongue 16, and is tapered in adownwards direction so that the width of the slot at the bottom as at 19is the same as that of the tongue 16, so that when the panels areassembled, the stud, by reason of the tapering sides of the V-shapedslot, will automatically centre the panel as it is dropped intoposition.

The connecting studs and slots of which there may be two or more arearranged at spaced intervals depending on the size of the panel.

' It will be seen that when the panels are erected and the two L-sectionstrips are drawn together back to back, not only is a tight joint madebut together with the vertical flange 11', there isproduced an almostH-section which is a very strong load bearing unit. The tongue andgroove effect of the flange 11' also acts as a weather proof barrier atthe vertical joint between adjacent panels.

The facing sheets may be formed of composition insulation board,asbestos sheeting, or other suitable material, and preferably each panelon the inside is for-med with a sheet 20 of insulation board or anyother type of internal wall lining, and on the outside with a sheet 21of asbestos, or other material of a heat-resistantcharacter. 28 is alayer of glass wool. The facing sheets are fixed to the transversemembers 13.

The composite building unit of this invention thus eliminates a separatemetal frame, in which wall panels normally have to be fixed, with theresult that quicker the fillet 2 and inner and outer facing boards 20and 21, are used to provide a damp course. As can be seen from Figure 5the wood fillet 2 when the panel is in position rests on the channel 24space 25 functioning as the damp course and one of the flanges,preferably the interior flange 26, is formed with an extension 26' towhich the fillet 2 is secured by wood screws 27 in the course oferection.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that and can becarried out by more or less unskilled labour, since, in the preferredconstruction,

ceiling level so that all the operative has to do is to drop the panelinto position on a (usually concrete) foundation indicated at C inFigure 5.

The concrete foundation C may be provided with prepared positions toreceive the panels, such as by setting a number of rag bolts indicatedat 30 into the concrete,

e. g. two or more in accordance with the width of the panel,correspondingly positioned holes 31 being formed in the web of thebottom edge channel to which the panel is secured by fixing nuts 32.

Similar fixing bolts provided with nuts 33 are provided at intervals inthe channels extending along the upper edges for attachment to an eavepanel indicated at 34.

In practice, the bottom channels initially do not form part of thecomplete panel and after the concrete foundation C has been laid downtogether with the rag bolts 30, the channel is bolted down by the fixingnuts 32, when therpanel is lowered and subsequently secured from theinterior by wood screws 27. As an additional means of locating thepanels in the base channel the fillets 3 and 4 forming the styles may beextended at their lower ends as indicated at 3',

by the operator on to the channel so as to enclose an interior air 4' toproject beyond the horizontal fillets 2 and extend into the bottom ofthe base channel.

As a protection against the weather, a metal weather strip 40 may beprovided, this strip being secured between the Wood fillet 2 and thefacing sheet 21 and having an olfset flange so that it overlies thejoint line between the base channel 24 and the panel. It will beappreciated that although the bottom channel 24 serves as a damp course,a layer of felt or a mastic jointing indicated at 24' may be provided topreserve the metal and prevent entry of moisture.

The roof is secured by bolting to the upper channels within which thewall panels are located and in one construction the roof is supported byroof trusses spaced apart from one another by tubular purlins to whichcorrugated roof sheeting is secured in the normal manner. The ceilingmay be provided by ceiling panels made from an insulation board attachedto a timber frame.

At a corner where two wall structures join one another, I made use oftwo vertical timbers 40, 41, one of which timbers 40 is provided with ametal reinforcing strip 11 having tongues to engage slots 17 in thereinforcing strip of theouter panel of one wall structure. The secondtimber 41 is preferably of slightly greater width and arranged toproject beyond the timber 40' to extend a distance suflicient toaccommodate the flange 11' of the outer panel of the other wallstructure. The fillet 41is provided with a complementary reinforcingstrip 13.

I claim:

1. A building panel adapted for use in combination with similar panelsto form a wall, said panel comprising a rectangular body having edgesurfaces and face surfaces; a first metal strip of substantiallyL-shaped crosssection secured to said body along one edge thereof, saidone edge having aslot formed therein; a second metal strip ofsubstantially .L-shaped cross-section secured to said panel along anopposite edge thereof, each of the L-shaped strips having one of itslegs extending partly over a face surface and having its other legextending partly over a portion of its associated edge surface, saidsecond L-shaped strip having a flange adapted to be received in the slotof an adjacent panel corresponding to said slot in said one edge; andinterlocking means for interlocking adjacent panels, said interlockingmeans comprising a male element on one of said'rnetal strips and afemale element on the other of said metal strips, said elements beingengageable with complementary elements on the edges of adjacent panelsby insertion of the male element into the female element andinterlocking said elements by vertical adjustment of one of the panels.

2.. A construction as set forth in claim 1 in which said interlockingmeans comprises a hook shaped tongue projecting from one of said metalstrips and a tapered slot in the other of said strips.

3. A construction as set forth in claim 2 in which said hook shapedtongue opens downwardly and in which said tapered slot tapersdownwardly.

4. A construction as set forth in claim 3 in which said hook shapedtongue forms a part of said second metal strip and in which saiddownwardly tapering slot is formed in said first metal strip.

5. A construction as set forth in claim 4 in which each of said otherlegs of said metal strips are disposed flatly against the correspondingedges of said body and in which there is a recess in that edge overwhich said first metal' strip extends adjacent said downwardly taperingslot so as to receive said hook shaped tongue. 7

References Cited in the file of this atent I UNITED STATES PATENTS355,441 Ducker 2,104,550 Bates Jan. 4, 1938 2,316,980 Sigloch et' a1Apr. 20, 1943 2,430,961 Sprunger Nov. 18, 1947 Jan. 4, 1887 i

